The petitioners joining the HSUS include the Association of Irritated Residents; the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment; the Clean Air Task Force; the Dairy Education Alliance; El Comité para el Bienestar de Earlimart; the Environmental Integrity Project; Friends of the Earth; and the Waterkeeper Alliance.

“Unregulated air pollution from massive factory farms has a devastating impact on human health and the environment,” stated Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president and chief counsel for animal protection litigation and research at the HSUS, in a press release. “The EPA should hold these big agribusiness corporations accountable for the enormous harm they are inflicting on local communities, independent family farmers and the environment.”

The 69-page petition provides detailed scientific and legal information about the significant emissions of methane and nitrous oxide — two greenhouse gases — as well as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia from factory farms, and how all of these pollutants have been shown to have negative effects on human health and welfare, including adverse effects on climate and the environment in the United States.

The petition further explains how reducing emissions of major pollutants from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) will improve human health, reduce suffering of farm animals, protect habitat for wildlife and reduce the effects of climate change and other environmental problems.